Anime St. Louis 2014 Review

It’s that time of year again! The trees are bursting into floral bloom, their aroma intoxicating in the air, the petals swirling around you, making you feel like a Japanese school girl observing the first sakuras of spring. The sky looks like it belongs in a children’s book with its blue crayon tone and fluffy, marshmallow like clouds. Easter candy is all the stores peep about (ha! See what I did there?! ^_-). Ah yes…it’s Anime St. Louis time! 2014 will mark our third year of attending, my fifth con period. It was ironic that only a trio, Derrick (my hubby), Miles (my bro-bro), and I could attend. But, us three Otaku Musketeers were ready to enjoy this long awaited, long planned for weekend, still keeping our friends in our kokoros.

Okay, so a little pre-convention talk: I DID NOT feel prepared for this one! With my job and working heavily on writing book 2, promotions, tours, contests, and such, the con was in the back of my mind although I didn’t want it to be. I didn’t pack my cosplay bag until the morning of, which I NEVER do! o.0 My other bags were the night before. My husband was packed before me; man, I felt like a loser! I stayed up until midnight the day before (after touring the high school all day long for work observations), getting addresses for the GPS (which we ended not needing because we are so used to Collinsville now), updating my facebook to get fans and friends pumped, discussing summer convention ideas since our beloved Natsu was canceled this year (I will do a large update on this on my next normal post), and checking everything several times. My brother and Derrick watched “Golden Age” which they insisted I have to see one of these days because of all the drama and ‘feels.’ I added it to my list with the other 999 animes! -_-;; Miles just slept over that night, which helped time wise and after getting gas and Derrick’s forgotten phone charger at work (he worked late that night and he normally works mornings), we were on the road at 10:20 a.m., arriving at 12:05 p.m., jamming to one of Miles’ loved and crud video game parody bands and making random jokes about animes, life, and odd super modeling jobs!

Like tradition stated, we ate at Steak n’ Shake. I have discovered their Chili Mac this year at my Stake n’ Shake and loved it. I also LOVE their a la mode brownie! SO FLAPPING GOOD! =D So, I decided to get that here instead of the usual burger or chicken tenders. Yeah…it was okay, but not as good. Now, forewarning, I’m going to try NOT to whine too much, but there will be a lot of Collinsville food comments in the review this year, so brace yourself. We were not in our costumes because we were scared of getting dirty.

The hotel, our trusty Days Inn, were still cleaning by 1:00, so we went to the Double Tree to change, since it also was hosting events for the con and is across from it. Miles wore his Li Syaoron from Cardcaptor Sakura …ah, the show that started it all for us! ^_^ Derrick was Kirito again from Sword Art On-line. I decided a few days before to whip out Sailor V again from Sailor Moon since I had so many issues with it at Natsu and Anime St. Louis 2013 was when I wanted to wear it, but it did not arrive in time! My mom got me these close to the roots hair pins, which did a fantastic job of keeping my hair inside the cap and making the cap stay, which allowed the heavy wig to fit much nicer! It barely moved! I fixed my choker with Velcro and a bobby pin and the mask had no more string and stayed on my face well with just top stick. It looked so much better altogether and I really felt like Sailor V! I <3 her!

The second we tried to get Miles’ lasin board out of the trunk (which our grand friend Julie made for him! Pictures are below; she’s amazing!) and his thunder tailsmens, which I made and think I did a good job on, one of his large sleeve bells fell off! 0.o Thank gosh I had two large safety pins and we didn’t have a hitch afterwards, except for a half hour later when a nice gentlemen found his other bell on the carpet! Good thing I had two! -_-;; His butt bell as he called it for his back flap was lost sometime Saturday, but it wasn’t as big or critical. Still, you pay money for something, you want it to work for longer than 30 minutes of barely moving. *sighs* Miles got a lot of questions and shout-outs for being a beloved childhood character! He did a grand job posing as Li too, doing kung-fu stances or using the lasin board and tailsmen. Only one person asked where the sword was, but they’re way too pricey and we didn’t want a keyblade fiasco like last year…

It was around 1:40 by then. We got our badges with ease and then had to walk until 3:00 before we could drop our stuff in the hotel. It was fairly boring, but we did get some early pictures of people and them of us, played some Smash Brothers with an Assassin from the Creed series, look over the booklet, and such. No venders yet; they were still setting up. The boys played in the arcade for the final 30 minutes as I texted Tabby about summer con details (it was hard to sit on the floor in a Sailor skirt). I wish there was more to do before the con started. I know the bulk of the staff were setting up, but, just a thought. Checked into the hotel at 3:10. Nice room and with three of us, it had plenty of space, Miles with his own bed (he had a cot in the corner last year, but he said it was super comfy). Had a fridge and microwave too. We unpacked and just sat around until 3:45 then headed back, waiting for the opening ceremony.

We got in line and saw an AMAZING Iron Man with lights in his palms, but he was the colors of the Mystery Machine, his butt having a license plate that said “Jenkies.” It was a huge hit! I also got to hang out with a personified female Shadow the Hedgehog, my beloved inspiration for Spirit Vision’s Umbra! ^o^ She was so fun! I also had a Sailor Uranus run to me, which means…I have OFFICALLY seen EVERY Sailor Scout by a cosplayer in my life! =D This is a HUGE deal for me!!! ^_^ YEAY!!!

The opening ceremony started around 4:20 and lasted only a half hour. No theme this year although water/beach was apparent on the booklet. Hmmm…? 0.o It was a normal ceremony; nothing flashy, a nice DJ host, and getting us pumped. I would give it a 6.5/10 rating. Matthew Mercer was ADORABLE though, sneaking behind the DJ! HA! Make sure to check this out and all my other con videos at my Youtube Channel.

At 5:00, we went to a CLAMP panel. Miles, being Syoaran, the main male character from CLAMP’s hit, Cardcaptor Sakura, was a huge showstopper for the panelists, them even pointing at Miles when they mentioned his character. The pair of panelists was a mother and daughter team, very sweet and personable. The facts were not fully correct along with some of the pronunciations of the characters (although the women speaking warned us of this upfront). The PowerPoint was simple and cute, giving a basis for each series without spoilers. They ran out of time at the end so their spoiler ending poster, which looked super neat, was rushed sadly. They had tons of books and some DVDs for us to look at on a table as well. I was even able to inform them that there was an anime, and dubbed fairly well at that, for CLAMP School Detectives, which she was really happy about! It was nice to be helpful! ^___^ We got to nerd out with other CLAMP fans, which was so rad! I suppose I knew more than I thought and if it wasn’t for the slight misuse of timing and the wrong facts, this panel would have been flawless. Still, if the few incorrect facts are fixed (I sound so snobby; I apologize), then it would be perfect for beginners! 7 out of 10 for them and their charm. Thanks for bringing CLAMP fans together! Also, loved your Avatar Earth Bender cosplays! I didn’t film this since it was a fan panel. Miles and I got stopped for several pictures along the way, one with me and a LOVELY Sailor Saturn! She was super nice and gushing over how she never saw a Sailor V before. ^-^ First, it was her friend and Derrick only taking pictures of our cute poses, but then it became like five to six, everyone asking us to look their way. I felt famous! Hehehe!

We spent what felt like two seconds, but was actually 15 minutes getting a sneak peek at the vender’s room and artists alley. It was pretty crowded for a Friday. At around 6:40, Miles and I headed over to the Double Tree for autographs. We only waited for half an hour in the pre-line, which wasn’t bad (me getting a few cosplayers’ pictures) and then a quick 5 minute wait from the actually line! 0,o Our voice acting guests were the beautiful Marisha Ray (she did the Bat Girl webseries, which I sadly do not know, but I heard was popular. She was just adorable) and the great, the zombie slayer with the golden locks himself…Matthew Mercer! ^.^ I don’t really know anything from experience he’s in, but I knew he was Leon Kennedy and that Smosh Games rated him on of their top five voice actors in gaming, which is an honor. They were both there, signing together (they’re both from L.A. and apparently play D & D together…>.<). I said hello and asked them to sign my panda bag of voice actors, them putting it between them. Marisha was gun-ho, ready to sign, but Matthew held us hand up and said, focused, “Hold on! I have to read what everyone wrote!” So he read all the signatures, laughing at Michel’s “panda” and Coco panda doddle, while Marisha complimented me on the cute bag and the idea of having it signed. I told her it was my adorable autograph book, which made her smile. They each choose a side and signed: Matthew gave me a heart (hehehe) and Marisha drew the Bat Girl icon.

I then asked Matthew to sign the back of my pink Ouran High School Host Club rose and usa-chan wallet (it is really beat up; hard to believe I’ve had it for three years after wanting it for so long. So, now, I use it as my con wallet, so only 6-7 days out of the year and the rest of the time, my new Kero wallet. Woot!). Marisha was chatting with me, trying to figure out which sailor scout I was. While we talked, Matthew bit his lip and was trying to find the proper place to sign it. He then looked at me and in a rich, velvetly voice asked, “Hmmmm, I’d love to sign your wallet, but are you sure you want me to defile it?” I almost said that was the point, but I stopped myself. I replied, “Please do. It’ll make it more valuable.” Ha! He signed it and then I asked for a photo. I sandwiched myself in the middle and asked who wanted to hold Artimis, Sailor V’s cat companion. Marisha snatched him before I took a breath! She then called me Lady Artimis! =^-^= I did the standard big grin, Sailor V peace sign pose. In the first photo, Marisha was showing off Artimis while Matthew did the Sailor V pose too! So precious! And he grabbed and held my waist tight, pressed against his hip. I mean, REAL TIGHT! o.0 Even Miles noticed! He didn’t let go either and said we needed to do another one! He rolled his eyes in the back of us head, staring at the ceiling while Marisha did the Sailor V pose (still clinging to Artimis) with me this time. Maybe Sailor V knocked Matthew Mercer out with her lovely charm? >.< Not sure what he was doing there, but it’s an awesome picture! Man! He did hold me sweetly and tightly. Good thing Derrick didn’t see it; it was nice. Hehehe! ;D I did tell Derrick later! Matthew is such a cool guy; he even did all these cool different photos with different poses with the Iron Man we saw earlier, who was in front of us, having so much fun. It’s great how giving they are to us. Miles got the back of his lasin board signed by both of them! 🙂 I’ll give all this a 10 out of 10 for sure! We were finished by 6:30, much earlier than expected.

On a side note, I am SO glad I wore Sailor V, even if it was just for one day. I had so many gushes, smiles, loves, hugs, and beyond. I am so happy people liked it. ^_^ When we were leaving to go back to the hotel, I heard about five girls way in the back of the parking lot as we walked. They yelled, “Oh my gosh! Sailor V!” and they were waving and grinning like mad. I looked up and gave them the signature V pose with a cute smile. Good gravy, it was like I was Johnny Depp or something! They fangirl screamed so loudly and were fanning their red faces, gushing on how cool it was I talked to them and did the perfect pose. It was a little much, but it made me feel good. 🙂

We found Derrick and then changed back into normal, but nerdy clothes. That took some time. We barely got supper at any place, but we waited at my choice, Applebees (it was SO crowded!) It took 20 minutes to get a booth and a while for our food, but we finished by 9:15, missing Whose Line is it Anime? To any who attended, I hope it was awesome and I am sorry we missed it! =( We dropped our extra food in the hotel fridge and made it back to the con by 9:30, in time to meet Mr. The Amazing Brando for Anime Hypnosis! The line was INSANE! Actually, there really was no line and it was packed. I got to meet Brandon (who was dressed as Hughes from Full Metal Alchemist, his assistant dressed in a Space Jam uniform! How awesome is that?!) and his helpers early since I was filming them. This will be my fourth time doing it. Brandon is amazing and I want to support what they do. He allowed me in early with Derrick and Miles, reserving three front row seats for us so I could get better shots. This helped a ton and a half and I felt so special! They couldn’t set-up until 10:00, when the panel started sadly, because of another panel. In 20 minutes, they were able to get it ready, but they had the room until midnight if needed. They were just worried about the massive crowd! We got lost in the shuffle up front and since the Anime St. Louis people didn’t know I was with Brandon, I had to wait until one of his helpers (dressed as Natsu from Fairy Tale) called for the “The girl with the Espeon hat!” I told Brandon I would be wearing this so he could identify me. Everyone was not too thrilled I got to go inside early until later, but oh well! At 10:20, they swarmed in like hawks! It was a madhouse, but I was happy to see that! They did a live Twitter feed this year where during the panel, one could take photos of it and post it on the twitter, where it would pop up on the screen for the world to see. It was a nice concept. The Great and Powerful Brando made a huge entrance from behind the curtain, which was fantastic! I felt bad no one asked him serious questions before the hypnotizing like normal, but people are people and they were SO READY! LOL! =D

We got started, he even thanking me personally and pointing to me! It’s in the first video! I felt so special! ^-^ <3 He called me by my Youtube name, SakuraStar07. He got TONS of volunteers and all, but two went under, which is INCREDIBLE! In fact, he brought SIX at LEAST people to the stage who got hypnotized in their seats! They had to find more chairs. I was so happy for him since you never know who’s going to go under or not! Once again, Brandon and his crew were a blast. I liked their new bits. The dueling was great and the super powers all over the place! He forgot to tell them not to try to fly after what happened last year…It was almost as bad! HA! Dora the Explorer with super speed ran over my foot! -_-;; The magical girl transformation was a riot, but my favorite part was stuck together J-Pop idols! They were fantastic! ^^ I REALLY missed the turning into a Pokémon part; I think that should be in every show. Still, Brandon and his team were grand and I cannot wait to see their show again! A no brainer: 10 out of 10! Thanks for letting me ‘be’ your videographer and for the VIP seating for life! You, sir, rock! 🙂 Check out ALL the hilarious segments from this panel, along with the other three times I’ve filmed him, on my Youtube Channel! His channel is in my subscriptions by the way if you guys want to check it out.

We were all tired after this, it being after 11:40. We went to the hotel and got ready for bed. Day #1 of the con: complete! ^o^

We woke up around 8:30, ate an awesome, but lightish breakfast since we were munching on food at our food stop, and went back to the room, where Miles and I got back into our cosplay. This time, I wore my Tenma from School Rumble cosplay (her school’s summer school uniform) that my good friend Nathan’s grandmother made for me from a commission! She’s such a talent and it was super comfy! However…once we stepped out…my skirt was a light cotton and the wind was 16-18 mph all day…I had to hold my skirt down all day! >.< MAN! I really felt like a Japanese school girl in April, lol! The boys were cracking up! *sighs*

We got in line around 10:00 for the opening of the Third Honey Tea Maid Café. We met a fun young man who knew a lot about anime and chatted with him as Miles got approached a lot for a guessing game on who he was. One guy, very off-key, even sang, “Cardcaptors: A Mystic Adventure” from the English theme song! It was funny! ^o^ We were by the lobby where they had karaoke set up and we could hear people singing Japanese songs. There was a 35 minute delay, but we were FIRST, which was rad. We got two SUPER cute and sweet maids, who were shy at first, but I tried to keep the conversation going. They thanked us twice for being so nice, telling us they had some mean people that Friday. That’s not acceptable to me! They are volunteering a FUDGE ton of time to do this for free for us, working their bottoms off! There is no reason to be rude! We played Old Maid with them and even though it took me awhile to get the hang of it and I lost once, it was fun! ^_^ Our lovely ladies surely get a 10 out of 10!

Now, for the food and room. It was easier to see things than last time and there were tons of maids and a few butlers. They had a musical performance around 11:40 due to their late start, which was super cute and energetic! It should be on my Youtube super soon. The food was a tad pricey, especially my little chocolate cupcake. It was okay and had a little editable cherry blossom on it, but it was not worth $5 in the slightest sadly! Miles said the ice cream was super good though! The fries (still in the AWESOME silver vases happily), which were to die for last time, made us gag. They were as hard as rocks and cold, although they were fresh. I know they just opened for the day, but…wow! The hot chocolate I had was pure water basically. I know they are not an actual café and work really hard, but still, I was disappointed. I will have to give the café part itself a 5 out of 10, but the service helps bring it to a 7 out of 10 over all! Thank you ladies and gentlemen! 🙂

We were going to leave at 11:30, but I ran into a co-worker and her daughter, a student of mine. It was her first con and she just got there so we chatted and I got a picture. She was N from Pokémon Black and White and for her first cosplay, she did AMAZING! She was happy she got stopped a few times for pictures.

At 12:00, we stood in a MASSIVE line for Anime Mythbusters, which had been raved about by our friends Tabby and Nathan. Somehow, we crammed in there and got seats. I did film it, but it’s mostly the slideshow and it’s pitch black, but you can hear him talking clearly. He was very entertaining and super smart. I liked him a lot and all the work he did to make science anime related and fun. Still, all the math talking he did made my head spin, taking some of the focus off of him. I would give him an 8.5 out of 10. Still fantastic and I highly recommend him. His name is John. And he asked if anyone filmed him…I hope he sees I did. The videos will be up on my channel soon. Some of the series he covers are: Trigun, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Kenshin, and more.

At 1:00, Miles and I rushed over to the La Salle while Derrick goofed off or played in the game room. We went to a Hetalia World Conference panel. It had at least 14 cosplayers, each a unique country! Most of them did an excellent job as the characters. I liked how they had a microphone on the side and people lined up to ask their questions then had to sit back down, even if they had another question; made it so much more organized! It was a little chaotic for us to stay the whole hour (we stayed around 35 minutes), but it was super cute and worth it! Awesome to see so many Hetalia fans! The best part was Italy hugging Lugia! =^-^= I did film what we saw and it’s on my channel. An 8 out of 10 for them!

We were getting a little hungry, so Miles and I got some soda and a popcorn at the snack bar. Pricey, to be expected, but not insane. We took our time, got some pictures, and then went to the Double Tree for a R.W.B.Y.- Ruby fan panel. Now, if you do not know what this is: R.W.B.Y. is a series made by the popular web series team, Rooster Teeth. My brother watched this show in the summer and was hooked! I mean HOOKED! He made me watch it over New Years (the whole season is only a little over 2 hours) and I must admit, it is incredible. The graphics are lovely, the songs catchy, the characters charming, and it has an anime feel to it, like Avatar, but is its own unique style. The weapons are THE COOLEST! So, I am a noob fan, I suppose and I knew it was a popular cosplay trend, but Oh. My. Chicken Legs! 0.o Me or the panelist for that manner expect their tiny space to be crammed wall to wall with people in a second, having to turn people away, co-goers fan girling and boying like they were at a Taylor Swift concert! The screams, the sing-a-longs, the gushing…it was madness! I know the panelist were so stunned. They changed their panel from an intro for beginners to a fan-spasm showing fan art, music videos, the cosplays from the series (there were at least 15! AMAZING for a web show), and items of that nature. I felt out of place that I wasn’t yelping from sheer joy like everyone else. The biggest surprise for me? My brother was one of them! Okay, now, he loves shows and fans out, but not to the hyper point I do at times and I’m even calm compared to most otaku girls (sorry to be stereotyping, but I’ve seen it enough times to basically confirm it). But…him having so much fun, SINGING to sons outloud, grinning with other super fans…it warmed my heart. We were supposed to leave at 2:35 to get in line for the super popular Pokémon game show all the way in the other building, but seeing his joy, I knew I couldn’t take that away. So, I made him set an alarm to leave at 2:52, told him where the room was, to not talk to anyone, and meet me there. Then, I slipped out the best I could. He had a blast I could tell, so, although I like the show and was thrown unprepared into a world of chaos, I am grateful for this panel. 8 out of 10 for them and I would check out the R.W.B.Y. show on Youtube. I didn’t film for it was too crowded, but I did take pictures of the cosplayers. 🙂

I met Derrick to get in line for Greggio’s super popular Pokemon Game Show and they had already opened the doors a half hour early! 0.o It was JAMMED! They said at 3:00 on the dot, they had to lock the doors due to fire code. I was panicking since Miles still wasn’t there, but he made it at one minute till and all was well. 🙂 We sat way in the back and my student and her mom found me and we sat together (she tried out to be a contestant, but didn’t get it; it’s a random drawing). She and I are huge Pokémon fans, her taking my Pokémon summer school class. Greggio, once again, is the gem of Indie game showing and his helper is awesome sauce! Greggio will not be with us next year due to booking another con, but his helper will be our Pokémon Game Show host…if we made the requirements! =( Our contestants were great, Greggio even making a joke about last year’s one rotten apple. -_-;; The questions were so exciting, Greggio even starting with a CLASSIC Pokémon question…^_- We started by singing the opening, which makes you feel so giddy inside! The room was filled; we were only supposed to have 300 people in there, but we had 350! My friend Sapphire, who is the wife of the owner of Gamers Bazaar where I do my Pokémon Trading Card classes and book signings, was there and we chatted. She was Princess Suicune and looked so lovely; she made it all herself! I wish we could have hung out more. 🙁 My student was having fun mouthing the answers to me and us chatting them back and forth, her laughing at me when I was dancing and signing the Pokerap. I’m such a normal teacher, huh? ;D At the end, we had our winner, who battled the champion: complete with the champion music! HEHE! The states: if she won against Iris, the champion, then Greggio’s assistant would be the host for Pokémon game show next year and be the champion to fight next year. However, if she lost…then no Pokémon game show next year…AT ALL! o.0 It was the MOST INTENSE battle ever! I was gasping, biting my nails! How sad?! I won’t give any spoilers, but let me tell you: one of the highlight of the whole con for me! =D Here is the link to the first video, filmed by his assistant on his Youtube Channel. Support these AMAZING guys! No question: 10 out of 10!

Next was the sample, the must, of every anime con: The Masquerade! We walked straight out of the Pokémon Game Show, down the hall, and were prepared to wait in line forever like usual, but they let us in immediately! 0.o I guess they knew most of the attendees would be there. We got good seats on the side so I could film and my student sat behind me, confused on what it was about. The MC was good, the costumes nice, the skits fun. It wasn’t as roar on the floor laughing and make my jaw drop to the core of the planet as last year, but everyone did a good job. It was a little long in my opinion, but not NEARLY as bad as my first year…dear Lord! >.< Everyone, you did a grand job! Thanks for a fun show and all your talent! I filmed the Masquerade, but here is the full one and it is incredible! Check theirs out! ^_^ . OH! And my artist, Suzy, will love one of the ‘swimmingly’ handsome dance skits…;D 7 out of 10.

We didn’t get out until almost 6:00 and they refused to let us go to the vender’s room, closing it early. 🙁 Miles and I then had to get ALL our stuff that Sunday, which was scary, fear of things selling out sinking in, but there was nothing to do. I was bummed by this point that no one knew my cosplay that I love and no one wanted a picture. =( We decided to then go change in the hotel after getting Arby’s to eat in the room (which was NOT good at all! Terrible!). We played a new game called “Hello! My name is ___________. You ______________; prepare to die!” It is a game based on the famous line from The Princess Bride movie. We had a lot of fun while we ate although we couldn’t open Miles’ soda to save our lives! -_-;; After this, we watched Pawn Stars for 45 minutes in bed, zoning out after our long day. At 9:30, we headed back to the con to look at the light RAVE items for sale and get in line for our final panel of the night and con.

None of us are avid dances or ravers, but I like the LED lights products. My light LED saber I bought in 2012 STILL works and the guy who ran the booth this year was the same one who sold it to me. I showed him last year (2013) and he was so shocked because he wanted to sell me a new one! The girl who helped him was so upbeat! 🙂 I had fun as she showed me the toys and high-fived me about my saber, amazed. I decided to buy nun-chucks, LED light-up ones of coarse and they are soft steroform so if I whack someone by mistake (or on purpose…hehehe…), then it shouldn’t hurt too bad, 😉 You can open the top of it and add glow bracelets in them for added colors. How rad?! We had fun playing with them waiting in line, meeting a super friendly girl. She was a hoot! ^_^

At 10:00, we went into the 18+ Matthew Mercer and Marisha Ray Q and A panel. Funnily, they had no idea it was a Q and A OR 18+…HA! Not sure what they thought it was! Normally, you are not supposed to film or discuss the topics that were talked about due to legal issues. I didn’t film, but the questions were based Q and A ones, fans gushing over Matthew and his luscious locks and male leads. The only 18+ thing really was some of their words (very few) and like two short stories. Still, they were so sweet, so pumped so late at night for us. It was so much fun and so funny that Matthew and Marisha let it go over by a half hour and then at 11:30, told us to leave and party hardy all night! How rockin! We missed the 18+ Whose Line is it Anime (must not have been meant to be this year, huh), so if you attended that, I hope you had fun. These two are amazing; they have made me a fan for life! The panel is a 9 to 10 only because it turned into the We <3 Matthew Mercer show and I felt badly for Ms. Marisha. Still, SO GOOD! Derrick and Miles really loved it too.

At 11:45, we all hit the hay. Day #2 done.

We woke up and ate a large breakfast since we were not sure if/when we would have lunch, all three of us zombing out. We packed our stuff, paid for our room, and headed to the convention center one last time. There were no panels we wanted to attend to on Sunday, which was so strange since Saturday was so jammed pack. 🙁 The Cosplay World Summit took place today, which is incredible and I wish it could have been there, but it was ALL day, so 6 hours and I don’t think we could have handled it sadly. So, since Miles and I have had no time in the vender’s room at the time, we made Sunday a shopping day! Sadly, the snacks were sorely lacking and there was nothing I really wanted at any of the venders (other than a kimono, and ONE DAY, but Derrick was sort of rushing us, antsy to get home, so I didn’t even look). The grab bags were really hidden and I didn’t hardly see any. 🙁 I did get some snacks, and, the biggest shocker of all: NO STUFFED ANIMALS!!! >.< Derrick and Miles almost fell over from this!

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I sort of wanted to be alone that day; for a Sunday, due to the World Summit, it was crowded more than I was used to, making my unease and shy. I asked to shop alone and the boys were nice and agreed. I spent most of my time and money in Artist Ally. They didn’t have a lot of crafty things I liked, but tons of prints, buttons, and bookmarks and such. Again, like last year, I went a tad nuts…-_-;; Derrick was floored watching all the fun, cute little things I bought. I got too many prints too, barely finding room for them in the apartment. I think I truly do have a problem… Kevin Bolk the cartoonist was back and as jolly as ever. He got him to sign a funny Disney…Prince? print and he told me he would be making more Sailor Moon pieces for the new series. I told him I was the Sailor V and he informed me he saw me. I kindly requested how amazing a Sailor V print would be. I saw a lightbulb go off in his head! He beamed, snapped at me, and stated, “It shall be done!” I hope he keeps that promise! 🙂 I got to look and compare pricing of Steampunk hats for my friend Tabby since her and Nathan are getting married in March, having a Steampunk themed wedding. I am a bridesmaid in it and cannot wait to FINALLY have a reason to try to wear Steampunk! HA! 😉

I did, right before we were finishing the last aile, ran into my high school buddies Sam and Amanda! It was their first con ever, their first day and it was so amazing to see them! We chatted like birds for ten minutes, took pictures, and admired items (I was in my “Totoro in Wonderland” shirt from Ript Apparel and I got a lot of praise on it from several venders!). Amanda was Yuki Cross Day Class Uniform from Vampire Knight and Sam a cute little Hobbit, which hairy feet and all! A creeper came behind Miles and kept hissing at him! We all played along (although I do not play MineCraft), but Miles was indifferent. I EVEN got to hug a Lugia, full furry suit Lugia and Derrick got a picture! It was awesome!

I was sad to leave so early, but we headed out a little before noon, our adventures done (Derrick and I had to go to work at 5:00 in the morning the next day too). We all chatted about the con on the way back, but about half way home, Miles got real quiet. I didn’t think much of it since last year, he fell asleep on the way home. Well, we got home around 1:40, much earlier than dad expected. We talked to him a bit to drop Miles off, playing with my dog Cookie and Miles zoomed past us, not even saying bye. I found it strange, but I was too tired to question it too much. Well, dad called that evening to tell me Miles had been throwing up non-stop since he got home! 0.o He did for two whole days! I got scared because, like I said, all the food we had all weekend, was TERRIBLE and made us all ill, only two getting a rating of so/so. Collinsville, I love you, truly I do, but we have only found 3 food places we can tolerate, taste or survival wise and this is our fifth time there, us trying different places each time. The service is always fantastic, but…wow…-_-;; BUT, dad got the same thing Miles had that Tuesday and had it for over a week! He rarely gets so ill where he can’t get out of bed. I had to get food for them once! 🙁

The ending of the con was choppy waters and although, I must admit, out of all three Anime St. Louis’ we have been to, this was all our least favorite’s (beyond illness and food), it was still a nice and fun time, worth it! ^_^ Collinsville, thank you for opening your doors to up and we will see you next April for your tenth anniversary! Also, congrats on breaking your most attendees record with 4,200! YEAY! 😀 Make sure to check my Youtube Channel for all the videos. I PROMISE I am working on them; SUPER BAD LAG on Youtube’s part. >.< Ja minna-san!

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Our Cosplay: Me (Friday: Sailor V. Saturday: Tenma from School Rumble)